Killzone: Revengence
Killzone: Revengence is an upcoming first-person shooter, set in the Killzone universe. Revengence marks the seventh installment in the series, and the third portable entry overall. The game is currently being developed exclusively for the PlayStation Vita, and is scheduled for a TBA 2016 release, with a two-month beta taking place in late 2015. The game is being developed by Guerilla Cambridge, who have previously worked on Killzone: Mercenary and Killzone 2, with Guerilla Games overseeing development. Revengence is not to be confused with the upcoming Killzone: Mercenary 2, which has subsequently been delayed to an unknown date. During a Q&A on Killzone.com, Guerilla Cambridge's Gareth Hughes revealed that the game won't be a continuation of 2013's Killzone: Mercenary, but an entirely new story. The game will run on a slightly modified version of Mercenary's engine, with an apparent, "...emphesis on quicker movement, much to popular demand.'"'' '''Revengence will also contain less touchscreen-based activites than Mercenary, in order to create a smoother transition from the Vita to the PlayStation TV versions. Plot Official description Gameplay While Revengence is set to make its gameplay debut during E3 2016, a recent Q&A has shed some light on some of the specifics. The game will feature several weapons from the Killzone-''Killzone 2'' era, due to it's setting. During the Q&A, Revengence's lead designer Piers Jackson revealed that the fan favorite VC1 Flamethrower and VC5 Arc Rifle will be making a return. Presumably due to time constraints between Revengence and Mercenary 2, the game will run on a variant of the Mercenary engine, which itself was a modified version of the Killzone 3 engine. Some mercenary-related features, such as the beloved "VAN-Guard" system, will be removed from the game, due to the player assuming the control of a Helghast soldier. However, Jackson has hinted that Mercenary's arms dealer "Blackjack" will be making a return, in one form or another. In terms of setting, the majority of the environment-based concept art shown depicted what appears to be Helghan, although Jackson has stressed that the game will take players to several different planets. He then emphasized this by claiming Revengence to be "...the most ambitious portable shooter ever made. It's literally an entire galaxy in your hands." Reception Critical Reception While Revengence is years away from an official release, several early builds of the game have already been sent to select sites. On December 25, 2014, IGN's Colin Moriarty wrote an early preview of the game, based on the tech demo he'd been given. Moriarty criticized the early build heavily, calling it "...a huge step back from ''Mercenary, that shamefully replaces the series' unique feel with a more Call of Duty-esque experience."'' While his final impressions of the game were largely negative, Moriarty also called Revengence extremely ambitious, possibly even to a fault. Controversy While no gameplay has been published as of yet, the Killzone community has been split over some of the new changes, specifically towards the more "loose" controls. While some have found the series' weighted movement as cumbersome, long-time fans have become accustomed to it, leading to a variety of internet petitions to keep the gameplay the same. While Cambridge doesn't plan on reverting the changed they've made, they plan on welcoming some suggestions in the upcoming Killzone: Revengence Beta.